Fratelli's Trattoria — Restaurant in Monona

We went to Fratelli's to celebrate a birthday. I made reservations the day before for 7 pm and we were seated within a few minutes of arriving. However, our reservations did not mean a good table--we were seated at the absolute worst table in the dining area. As you can see from the pictures, we were next to the kitchen entrance, which was also where the servers stand and watch to see if customers need anything. The gentleman you see was as close as if he were seated at our table and could hear every word we exchanged during the meal. The stream of servers in and out of the kitchen was constant; there was never more than 3 or 4 minutes without someone going through a swinging door that made a loud "thwop" everytime it opened and closed. Two other tables at the opposite side of the restaurant remained open from our arrival until we left, so why were we not offered one of those tables, where our meal would not have been in a high traffic, noisy area. This would have been the LAST table I offered someone who would end up spending nearly $100. The food was delicious, but our server stopped at our table only two times after we ordered. While our dirty dishes were removed quickly, no one offered more bread. We ordered a bottle of wine, but glasses were poured without offering a taste first. Again, this was pricey enough that I expected the service to be top notch. I don't believe in leaving dissatisfied without speaking to the manager, so I asked to speak with them after paying the bill. The woman I spoke with told me she was sorry, but offered nothing to compensate for the experience we had. She did tell me it wasn't acceptable and that she would discuss my concerns with the server. If it is bad enough to discuss with them, it is bad enough to offer the customer a discount. Don't bother with a reservation--it means nothing and if they can't seat you, having to go elsewhere won't be the worst thing that...

The food was fine, but the waitress was impatient & rude from the start which we never complained about and remained polite throughout her meal. I'm a kill them with kindness kinda person. All the way thru dessert, we thought, ok maybe we'll give this place another try - these are just some hiccups. Then we waited nearly 20 mins for them to run our credit card only to have the presumed owner come over and tell us that she was having problems with her system and/or internet and did we have any cash. We did not have cash for our party of 4. She said that we would have to wait for the system to come back up. It's 8:30pm, we were the last table in the restaurant, and we had been there for nearly 2 hrs (service was also slow and inconsistent). I asked how much longer we might expect to wait, and she said maybe 10 more mins. I said we'd be happy to wait 10 more mins, but that we had to dash off for our 8:30 commitment. She then went on about how this wasn't her fault (was it our fault?) and she was glad she didn't have a full restaurant. No apologies for the delay or offers to make it right (comp dessert?). We said that if the system wasn't back up in 10 mins, we were happy to pay another way but couldn't wait indefinitely. It was at this point, that our waitress storms over and threatens us with saying that she will call the police if we don't wait. We had no intention of not paying the bill and to threaten the customer with the police over a problem that the restaurant is having is downright uncalled for. The owner then proceeded to run the card again and thankfully it worked and we went on our way. After threats of calling the police, we won't be going back and cannot...

The food is outstanding! The red sauce is authentic and worth going back….except I’ll likely get it to go. Former frequenter of Angelo’s so I’m familiar with the limited layout. Our table was nestled between the serving station where they compute the ordered and the kitchen where servers are in and out with orders. There are speakers right above that are hardly playing music so we were battling talking amongst the racket of the kitchen staff working and the conversation coming from the back corner table. Bread is served alongside a dish of balsamic/olive oil but there no accessible oil refill as the plate only holds a small amount. Our server only stopped to take a drink order which was just water and back around for the food order. Didn’t ask if we wanted apps or if we had any ?’s on the menu or if there were any nightly specials. She wasn’t sure what veal sauce was and it took her about 5 mins to return to the table. The side salad cost $3 extra and was about the size of a garnish. While enjoying my dinner the servers were winding past our table with plates of gooey cheesy saucy pasta and I always constantly on alert that they weren’t going to accidentally drop a plate of food on me as our table was placed right in their pathway. We finished half the meal and boxed it up. The food was authentic but the service/ atmosphere was not your traditional Italian, upper scale experience. Looking forward to trying many more dishes from their menu, just don’t plan...